Country music singer Rita Wilson has marked the anniversary of her and husband Tom Hanks contracting Covid-19 with a heartfelt Instagram post. The two were among the first high-profile Hollywood stars to publicly come out with their positive diagnosis.
“One year ago today I was playing the Sydney Opera House @sydneyoperahouse, the next day started feeling very tired and achy, two days later hospitalized with Covid 19,” Wilson wrote.
The two revealed their diagnosis on March 11 of last year. Wilson wrote that the couple were “thankful for the medical care we got in Queensland,” adding, “We share in the sorrow of each person who lost a loved one to this virus. I’m hopeful for so many being able to get the vaccine.”
The family has done more than post on social media. Both Wilson and Hanks volunteered to donate blood for Covid-19 research after recovering from the disease.
The two were in Australia for pre-production of Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis Presley film from Warner Bros. when they fell ill. Hanks, a two-time Oscar winner, will play Presley’s longtime manager Colonel Tom Parker in the project.
Hanks has previously said his wife had it worse with the coronavirus than he did.
“Rita went through a tougher time than I did,” Hanks said in an interview with radio host Randy Miller. “She had a much higher fever. She had lost her sense of taste and sense of smell. I had some bad body aches and was very fatigued, and that’s how the COVID-19 went through us,” he said.
Hanks, 63, noted that they were isolated in an Australian hospital for three days after they first tested positive. “It was relatively early in Australia’s response to the coronavirus, and they wanted us to not give it to anyone else,” he said. “That’s why we were in lockdown.”
